A steering apparatus having a steering gear assembly of a rack-pinion type has a structure in which a rack of a rack bar and a pinion gear of a pinion shaft are engaged with one another.
Such a steering gear generally has a rack supporting structure for maintaining a firm engagement of a rack and a pinion to improve a steering performance and a steering feeling.
A rack supporting structure has a rack bearing contacting a rack bar, and has a structure that a coil spring which is supported by an adjustment plug which is installed in a steering gear housing elastically supports a rack bearing.
Such a conventional rack bar supporting device has a problem in that a clearance between a rack bearing and an adjustment plug by abrasion of a rack and a pinion due to long time operation may increase and the increased clearance may cause rattle, vibration, or the like.